Question

In its 39 years of existence, Hard Rock has grown from a modest London pub to a global power managing 129 cafes, 12 hotels/casinos, live music venues, and a huge annual Rockfest concert. This puts Hard Rock firmly in the service industry––a sector that employee over 75% of the people in the U.S. Hard Rock moved its world headquarters to Orlando, Florida, in 1988 and has expanded to more than 40 locations throughout the U.S., serving over 100,000 meals each day. Hard Rock chefs are modifying the menu from classic American––burgers and chicken wings––to include higher–end items such as stuffed veal chops and lobster tails. Just as taste in music changes over time, so does Hard Rock Café, with new menus, layouts, memorabilia, services, and strategies.

Discussion Questions1. From your knowledge of restaurants, from the video, from the Global Company Profile that opens this chapter, and from the case itself, identify how each of the 10 decisions of operations management is applied at Hard Rock Café.2. How would you determine the productivity of the kitchen staff and wait staff at Hard Rock?3. How are the 10 decisions of OM different when applied to the operations manager of a service operation such as Hard Rock versus an automobile company such as Ford Moto Company?